Supervolcano

I waited over a week to see this with not very high expectations - I was expecting a half- documentary, half-dramatized kind of thing. The Yellowstone SuperVolcano was something I had wanted to see a movie made about for years, this is finally it. Way better than that lame, horrible cliché-wracked turkey called "10.5" that NBC cranked out last year.

Although I had some gripes, I was overall impressed, specifically with the acting. This had cinema-quality performances that made it all the more believable. I was surprised by the magnitude of the visual effects, given that this was a TV movie. They were also of superb cinema quality.

The one thing I wanted to see which, alas, did not present itself, was the mass detonation of the entire Yellowstone region and the expulsion of a vast ocean of lava, as this is how I had pictured the Yellowstone super-eruption, and the actual geology of the area does show such immense layers of lava flows that come from a single eruption. This did not detract from my enjoyment of this film, though.

A surprisingly good production for television. 8/10.

Why can't something like this be in theaters? Supervolcano was better than most disaster movies out there. It certainly beat out Dante's Peak and Volcano due to its scientific accuracy and the fact that it can actually happen. The visual effects were outstandingly realistic. "10.5" and "The Core" looked like low-budget indie films compared to Supervolcano. Plus, it was filmed like a real movie and not in that annoying "24" style. The performances were very convincing and there was a connection felt to the characters. Bring on the movies, Discovery Channel! Documentaries are no longer the best thing you have going for you now, so don't stop!

This was hyped up with a massive amount of trailers and one of the things I dislike about a lot of programmes these days is the hype they receive . I also noticed it was one of those very multinational productions like THE GRID so I was expecting a very mid Atlantic flavour full of bed hopping , mawkishness , action scenes , really poor dialogue and of course a happy ending but what I got was something unexpected

The first episode is a bizarre mix involving soap opera , disaster movie build up and an episode of the BBC science show HORIZON . The characters are introduced and some of them are interviewed for camera . Instantly I thought this was a mistake since the interviews are conducted in the past even ie if they are interviewed then we know they'll be seeing the final credits and won't die . However when the supervolcano erupts setting off a chain reaction of other volcanic eruptions it becomes clear that the interviewees are out of the line of fire and the ones in danger haven't been interviewed hence they might die . So much for my conclusion that we'll be having an optimistic ending . What does become clear is that the human race may suffer the fate of the dinosaurs !

SUPERVOLCANO is gripping , informative and downbeat . It's maybe not as shocking as the BBC docudrama THREADS but in its own way it's just as effective . It's not flawless , for example the special effects look a little too like CGI in some scenes and there's bits that just don't ring true like people in Britain stocking up on food and water in the face of a coming disaster , sorry but we don't do that in this country - We just sit back in an apathetic manner in front the television with a cup of tea in our hands . Brits give fatalism a bad name . If I have one serious problem then it's the fact the narrative is too short . We find out that the ash in the atmosphere has blocked out much of the suns light meaning we have a " Nuclear winter " effect whereby even at the height of Summer the Earth's temperature will cool leading to all sorts of geographical disasters like famine in the third world where millions will die but this is only referred to in passing while another effect - The collapse of the American economy and all that entails - is not mentioned at all . But despite the flaws this is a pretty good speculative drama simply because iit's all too credible

SUPERVOLCANO

Aspect ratio: 1.78:1

Sound format: Dolby Digital

(2 episodes)

The 'true' story of an impending super-eruption beneath Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming which will bury 80% of the United States under clouds of choking dust and plunge the entire world into a devastating volcanic winter for years to come.

Based on meticulous research conducted over an eight-month period, this frightening drama commercializes a scenario first outlined in a documentary screened by the BBC in 2002, which drew the world's attention to a timebomb beneath Yellowstone Park. Characterizations are minimal (Michael Riley and Scottish actor Gary Lewis play concerned scientists forced to confront the reality of an impending disaster, only to meet opposition by government personnel eager to prevent mass panic), but scriptwriter Edward Canfor-Dumas describes the timeline of events with startling clarity, mixing narrative and science in an effort to 'sell' the material to the broadest possible audience.

Conceived and executed in the manner of a Hollywood movie, this TV special develops a fair head of steam - counting down to calamity via a series of tell-tale 'warning signs', including earthquakes and violent geyser eruptions - before The Big One explodes in a welter of CGI effects. Such material illustrates the size and horror of the Yellowstone disaster with shocking realism, but the aftermath (in which planet-wide snowfall causes massive disruption to daily life, food shortages and death on an industrial scale) is described with unseemly haste, and the end product feels strangely unfinished. Still, as a means of alerting the world to this imminent catastrophe (which could occur at any moment during the next 100,000 years), SUPERVOLCANO is pretty hard to beat. Sobering stuff, originally broadcast in two parts, directed by Tony Mitchell.

The recent spate of educational, high budget, what if documentaries has culminated in what can basically be said as a Hollywood blockbuster with BBC values. Showing off special effect that although are impressive for a British TV program still look 5 years behind current technology. (Resident Evil anyone?) This said the interjection of fictional experts telling us directly what the science is behind the program and what we can expect is refreshing and is not patronising or smack in the face obvious as some of todays blockbusters. (Inderpendance Day, The Day After Tomorrow) The characters were at first were less stereotypical than the average but ultimately also less interesting although some great acting and casting all round. (I swear half the guest stars of Stargate SG1 appeared throughout the program) The main problem with Supervolcano and the thousands of what-could-happen-in-your-future docu-dramas is that the sheer amount of them conveys a sense that Armageddon can happen any second, especially with Smallpox 2001, The Day Britain Stood Still and any Horizon episode ever made. This leads the validity of the threat (in this case a bloody giant magma core underneath Yellowstone National Park) to be underplayed even if it is based on researched factual events.